Time's Relentless Embrace: Exploring the Dichotomy of Youth and Age, and the Interplay Between Love and Death in Lord Tennyson's 'Tithonus'
Introduction
Lord Tennyson’s
Tithonus is based on a classical fable, on myth. Aurora, the goddess of
Dawn, fell in love with a handsome youth, Tithonus by name. At the request of
the goddess, Zeus conferred the gift of immortality on Tithonus. The goddess,
however, forgot to ask for the perpetuation of her lover’s youth and beauty.
With the passage of time Tithonus grew frightfully old and enfeebled so much so
that his life became insufferable. He then, requested the goddess take back
her, gift and let him die but Aurora was helpless, as even “goddess themselves cannot
recall their, gifts.” Throughout the poem Tithonus bitterly complains of
immortality as every where there is the process of decay in nature, in man,
terminating with death. It is he only cruel immortality consumes and find happy
and the men that have the power to die.
A Dramatic Monologue
Highly ranked among the dramatic monologues of
Tennyson, Tithonus does not attempt to depict much the characteristics of the
individual as the special circumstances in which he is places. It is one of the
poet’s most highly finished production, and is remarkable for its purity of
tone its musical rhythm and its beauty of style.
 |
| Lord Tennyson |
Various Interpretations
Tithonus
is one of the most beautiful conceptions of the mythological Greek mindset in
harmonious verse a fable that may be interpreted variously; whether of the
desolate sadness that would be the penalty of surviving the mere relic of a
man, into a strange and indignant generation, a white hair’d shadow roaming like
a dream, or as a parable upon the melancholy futility and disappointment that
may follow the coupling of blooming youth with extreme old age --------
How can my nature longer mix with
thine?
Coldly thy rose shadows bathe me,
cold
Are all thy lights, and cold my
witness feet.
Tithonus may also be seen at
the expression of a vain yearning for releases from the burden of living.
Contrasts: Youth and Age, Love and Death
The pathos of Tithonus’s life is rendered with compelling pity and tender.
Stopford A Brooke Commenting on this poem remarks high acclaim for this poetry.
Tithonus being old, ugly and feeble yet possessed by immortality yearns for
death. It was in the fitness of things that men should stop to comply with what
is ordained for him. Violating the decree of mortality issued by providence,
undone Eros would renew her beauty every morning, for Tithonus. But Tithonus
would forget everything if he could die. He would gladly go down to the dust
whence he sprung.
“Release me and restore me to the
ground
Thou seest all things, thou will see
my grave.”
Tennyson’s Poetic Genius
With remarkable craftsmanship,
Tennyson’s creates the imaginary land where Tithonus is supposed to abide. The
description of the wakening of Aurora, the glimmer on her brow, her sweet looks slowly
brightening before they dazzle the stars, the wild teams of horses shaking off
darkness from their manes, and her departure are all beautifully realized. Yet
though the place is far removed from the world of men, Tennyson has invested
Tithonus with supreme human pathos. “Immortal age tied to immortal youth, the
gift love to immortality the curse of him whom it was given the memory in
decay, of youth and of love once passionate, the dreadful inability to love the
dreadful inability to die – all is wonderfully expressed. In Keatsian mood it
is half in love with easeful death.
A parallel to Ulysses
Simply
speaking both Tithonus and Ulysses are dramatic monologues based on classical
legend and spoken by old man. In other respects they are antithetical. Tithonus
longs for death; Ulysses craves life piled on life. Where Ulysses is active,
Tithonus decays, will-less, a grey shadow, once a man. For Ulysses a new world
opens up as he looks about him to the horizon. But for Tithonus ‘the gleaming
halls of morn’ bring only the painful renewal of an existence that is no life.
This very existence too is dreamlike, a merely glimmering consciousness still
agonizingly sensitive to the beauty of nature yet using even this beauty as a
sort of anesthetic to during the conscious mind into that trance like condition
where reality is bearable. Above all, where Tithonus enervates, Ulysses embraces.
It does so, moreover with the command of rhetoric. Tithonus can do nothing to
compete with this sort of thing.
Conclusion
The poem through the character of Tithonus aptly gives an idea of the poet's reflections on death, his hopes and wishes during that time and thus the poem is more mature a philosophy.
The Key Points Under Discussions
Youth and Age:
- Tennyson contrasts the vibrant energy of youth with the decay and frailty of old age in "Tithonus."
- Tithonus, once a handsome prince, laments his immortal existence, which has robbed him of his youth and vitality.
- The poem highlights the stark contrast between the vigor and beauty of youth and the feebleness and despair of old age.
Love and Death:
- Tennyson explores the complex relationship between love and death in "Tithonus."
- Eos, the goddess of dawn, falls deeply in love with Tithonus and grants him immortality.
- However, as time passes, Tithonus realizes that eternal life comes with a heavy price, leading to a longing for death as an escape from his eternal suffering.
- The poem portrays the bittersweet nature of love, as Eos's immortal love becomes a curse for Tithonus, trapping him in a perpetual state of aging and decay.
- These contrasts between youth and age, as well as love and death, serve as central themes in Tennyson's "Tithonus," reflecting the human experience of longing for youth and grappling with the consequences of immortality and enduring love.
Reference
1.Tithonus by Alfred, Lord Tennyson | Poetry Foundation. (n.d.). Poetry Foundation. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45389/tithonus
.png)
.png)
.png)
Comments
Post a Comment
Drop any query, suggestion or comment here.